Title pretty much says it all.  I would love to have a Webley Mark VI.  They are getting hard to find.  The ones that are affordable are in really bad shape and the one in good condition are getting up into the silly price ranges.  With modern materials and machining it would seem pretty straight forward to make a modern replica of a Webley for modern cartridges like 45 ACP and 38 Special maybe even 357 Mag.  I would think they would sell well too but maybe not.

Cost prohibitive, limited to shorter length cartridge case length and strength.



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I would think it is no harder to machine than a good Smith and Wesson if you have access to modern machines.  I would be happy to drop $1200 on a modern version of a Webley Mark VI chamber in 45 ACP.  I have a tough time believing it can't be done for that price point if the volume was right.

the webley is a weak design enen big mk6 can't handel 45acp's steady a 357 would not last long.

who else makes a top break only the cholfield from uberti is all i know of

Because they are too ugly?

Much as I like Webleys I can't see a market for a repro.  It would be strictly a nostalgia piece.  Don't think if would work with the Cowboy games (I could be wrong on that).  Limited to fairly weak cartridges.  The top break design is well past its prime.  

The various top break Smith replicas seem like nice pistols but don't exactly fly off the shelf.

It is certainly not as strong an action design as modern revolvers that said the last time a Webely was fabricated it was made with 1920's steels and 1920's heat treat processes.  Those have both improved greatly.  Using modern alloys with modern heat treat processes the Webley break action design could easily handle a steady diet of 45 ACP type cartridges.

The whole problem is that setting up to manufacture a new firearm is very very costly and predicting volume at XXX cost is smoke and mirrors.

Every gun nut has a "I would like to see them make " gun but the hard part is finding something enough folks want.

Mine is a break open 22 LR similar to a old Iver Johnson with decent sights and a decent trigger . Loading/unloading a rimfire revolver Is a pain and would be simplified by the break top . I do however realize it is a tough market to compete against the $350 semi autos

I think the primary problem is convincing a factory that they would sell in sufficient quantities to make production worthwhile.

Yeah probably not enough market to make it happen but I would really love to see it.  We need someone to start a shooting group like SASS but based around the 1890's to WWI time period.  That might drive the market demand up enough.

LOL

Because there is no market for them
They would not sell

I'd love to have an Enfield No4 Mk2 in .308, using modern steel.
The Indians did it for the Mk3's. so the magazine is already
designed.

Since the Brits packed up the whole friggin' Fazackerly factory
and shipped it to Pakistan (or Pah-kee-stahn, in 0bongo speak)
I wonder if the machinery still exists?

Meh. The old Webleys don't excite me. Merwin Hulbert pocket army on the other

Ugly?

In an era of black plastic, aluminum and parkerized finishes I don't think "ugly" need be an issue.

The Webley .455 looks really ungainly.  It is all harsh angles and it seems almost as if parts that should be on the inside were instead bolted on the outside of the frame.

It shines, though, in the hands.  It is pretty light in weight.  It balances and points nice and the sights are actually worlds better than the competing designs of revolvers (or semi autos) of WWI vintage.  It has an "express" like sight picture.  Post front and shallow "V" rear.  The important part is the sights are wide enough to actually be useful, especially in less than optimal lighting.

Compare that to the weenie blade and very shallow notch on the Colt New Service or the Colt 1911 and you will see what I mean.

The action seems sloppy (especially the cylinder fit) but it locks up tight as you pull the trigger fully through.  It has an action that is much like the double hand action of a Colt (New Service, Python, etc.).  The pulls are too heavy in both double and especially (on mine) single action, but it was a gun made in war for war.  Primers were probably hard as nails and the gun was made in a time when function trumped finesse.

The pressure levels of .455 Webley loads are laughable by today's standards, but I personally would not immediately discount the stomp that a 265gr bullet has at even a sedate 700fps or so.  I find the recoil very soft and mellow, which makes sense.  Ammunition is still made by Fiocchi of Italy.

I think a release of reproduction .455s would sell.  It is a hell of a fun gun to shoot at falling steel plates, and I especially like it when you open the revolver up and "PING" out come your empties in a shower of brass.

So, to answer OPs question I dunno why with modern equipment a manufacturer could not make a competitively priced Webley.

I think they are kinda sexy.

I love the look of Webley's and other old revolvers. I'd definitely buy them if they were produced today.
A modern Chamelot-Delvigne Model 1873 would be spectacular:

 
 

its nit the steel it'd the hinge and latch and how tight they must be for the gun to work,  a shaved mk6 given a diet of factory 45 acp will loosen and eventually get out of time.

Yep, get a Scofield, mine will shoot .45LC.
I also have a Webley and love shooting that big .455, (Until I remember how much the ammo cost.)
El Aurens!!!!

What?  The alloy plays a big role here.  If stronger materials are used to make those parts (hinge pins and latch parts) they will withstand greater loads and take longer to wear to unacceptable dimensions than the same parts made with weaker alloys.  Combine that with modern machining methods that will hold tighter tolerances than 1920's machinist could even dream about and a Webley could be replicated, chambered in 45 ACP, that could shoot 45 ACP for as many rounds as an old Webely could 455 Webley before being worn out.  Alloys and machining have come a long way since the 1920's.

One of my favorite guns as far as looks go

 

They do in India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkG_3RnHhhY

You make it sound easy. When S&W made that run of schofields they were very expensive and didn't sell well because of it. I can't imagine a webley having more demand but you never know. Wish I would have picked up a pair of those schofields

I am no engineer but I think you are underestimating the inherent weakness in the top break design. The early 1900's wasn't as far behind as some would believe. Yes we can hold tolerances tighter but you are still constrained to the platform.

or you could make an updated design that can actually handle 357 mag, 45 colt or 44 spec the metals were weaker but the design is the catch no matter what you make it of.if a solid frame like a 66 or 19 can't handle a steady diey of 357 a top break won't.

That's because the Mk.VI was designed around an 1880s black powder cartridge, which could never develop the pressures of a .45 ACP smokeless load.

I think that a Mk.VI replica in .45 ACP/Auto Rim could be done, but it would take some fairly dedicated engineering to get it working right, and quite frankly it's a tiny niche market.
That's one of those guns that "Gosh, I'd love to have one" but at the same time I can see why nobody makes 'em. Tiny potential market, would have to be fairly pricey to make up starting costs, and therefore would probably sell about 100 total, ever. Which means it's just plain not worth it to manufacture, unless you can get some shop to make a custom one-off of it...and that'd be hellaciously expensive.

If money were no object, I'd probably see about having it done somewhere, though .
Unfortunately, money is very much an object to me

A 19, 13, 66, or 65 can't take "steady 357" because it was designed around 158gr LSWC loads, and had to have the K-frame barrel's forcing cone shaved down to fit the longer .357 cylinder. Meaning it's weaker there.

Couple that with the 125gr screaming .357 loads that actually have room to wobble between cylinder mouth and contacting the rifling, plus the way higher velocity of it compared to the original .357 loads, and yeah, the forcing cone takes a beating. And eventually it'll crack. Hell, there are plenty of folks out there with K-frame .357 revolvers who've shot a steady diet of 158gr .357 loads through them without breaking the forcing cone.

But it's not like the gun goes out of time for it, it's that using loads not in existence when the piece was created causes problems over the long run.
Hmm, where have we heard of that idea before......oh yeah! Webleys shaved for .45ACP moon clips!

It's almost like firearms are machines, too, and trying to make them do something they weren't designed for (like trying to fly a P-51 off an aircraft carrier, say) might be doable for a while, but it causes problems over the long haul. That pretty Mustang might land on the Intrepid a couple times just fine, but she wasn't meant to do it every day, and if you keep at it long enough you're bound to break something.

<-- As a Webley owner, I think they kinda suck & are overrated.

(Sights suck, trigger is heavy, hammer is fragile & prone to breakage, cylinder latch is stiff, etc.)

But, I'll go along with the Merwin & Hulbert repro...

I would love to have a break-top revolver in .45ACP, .357 Magnum, or even 9mm.

ETA:  It wouldn't even need to be close to the Webley design.  It could be Taurus for all I care, so long as it's durable, reliable, and not prohibitively expensive (I would NOT pay more than $500 for one).

a 9mm top break should be a good seller among women too. the star ejector may fix the biggest problem with 9mm revolvers - extraction

I would love to see a Webley-Fosberry clone